People will be able to view the Rothmayer villa starting Thursday

Prague - Starting from Thursday, another of Prague's monuments commemorating the architecture of the first half of the 20th century, the Rothmayer villa in Střešovice, will be open to the public. Its administrator, the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, has prepared an exhibition dedicated to architect Otto Rothmayer and his teacher Josip Plečnik. It will be open four days a week, but only by prior reservation, as is the case with the nearby Müller villa.
    The permanent exhibition is titled The Story of One House and One Family. It highlights the distinctive style of Otto Rothmayer and aims to evoke the atmosphere of the living, working, and artistic environment that Rothmayer created with his wife, the prominent textile artist and promoter of modern lifestyle Božena Rothmayerová.
    Rothmayer (1892 to 1966) belongs to the generation of architects from the first half of the 20th century. His life and work are closely linked to the personality of the renowned Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik, with whom he collaborated particularly on the modifications of Prague Castle. At the same time, Rothmayer also designed for private clients, primarily in Prague.
    He is the author of three family villas, several monuments, and he also collaborated on Plečnik's church in Vinohrady. Rothmayer's architectural work outside the castle area is largely intertwined with his carpentry activities. According to his designs, many interiors of Prague textile shops, a number of exhibition and museum displays, and attractions for children's playgrounds were created.
    The inspiration from the Mediterranean tradition, which Plečnik conveyed in the Czech territory, is also reflected in the architectural form of Rothmayer's villa from the years 1928 and 1929. The ascetic appearance of the villa is limited to basic shapes of a cuboid and a cylinder, which conceals the staircase. The interiors of the villa were not extensive; the crucial aspect was their connection to the veranda and the garden, which the architect designed himself. Its ingenious nooks inspired many visitors to the villa, and a series of still-life photographs of the garden was created by photographer Josef Sudek, for example.
    The Rothmayer family lived in the villa until 2008. At that time, the architect's son sold the villa to Prague under the condition of its reconstruction and accessibility. Repairs began three years ago, aiming, among other things, to remove construction interventions in the monument-protected building.